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Angle cuts (miter)

Was just kind of wondering. As many of you know, my work generally consists of interior and exterior railing work. I can't remember the last time I made a non-miter box weld/connection. I even do this with non-rail work. I guess it would be best to say I miter all my corner/box welds. I noticed on many project photos I have viewed here that most welds are straight "framing" welds. In any event, I know that (well I think I know?) because of the greater angle there is more weld surface on a miter welder hence, providing a stronger weld. I never really did it for greater strength as I did it for greater looks. I guess?

I miter nearly all of my angled joints. The ones that I weld straight I box the tubing first. I too would love to find a saw that accurately cuts 45s. I have been using a Dewalt multicutter, which is much better than an abrasive, but still leaves somthing to be desired. I am generally tolerant of 1/16"+-, but usually get +- 1/32ish".
Also, while on the topic, how do you mark your tubing to cut the miter? I generally have outside measurements, and so cut one 45 then mark outside measurement on the tube then transfer the mark to the top with a tri square. The only thing that makes this a problem is the round corner of the tubing. On 1" its not too bad, but a piece of 4X4 has 1/4" or more of a round edge to guess at. I have thought of making a purpose built gauge that surrounded two sides of the tubing, was square on the outside and 45 on the top to make it easier, but have not yet.
Any ideas?

i just got done building a skirt frame for our salter at work (should have some pics up this weekend if anyone is interested)

i had to bring in my own abbrasive chop saw to be able to 45 the angle so it would turn out to be a cleaner peice.. and i feel 45's seem to give a structure more strength and stability..and your right.. sure do look way better ...

my problem is that my cheepy ryobi home depot special chopsaw is..well..rather cheep and i get alot of deflection and imperfect cuts when running her at 45... ESPECIALLY with angle... i should upgrade to a better model.. maybe a rigid.. or save up for one of them drake cold coolant cutin chop saws.. (1K worth of saw) or a nice miterable band saw would be nice too

Walker - I use my rafter square for marking all my 45 degree mitres. It has the advantage of a shoulder that overcomes the rounded edge. The link below is not the one I have but you can get the idea. I have both a 7" and a 12" version.

For Aluminum, I use a delta compound miter saw. It will cut to about 3"x3" with 98% accuracy.

For steel, I use my HBS. Its not so accurate so i get out the square. Its the only way ive found so far.

Alternately, if you have the option to do layups, you can jig everything as close to "square" and tac it all in place then do the final welding..

I miter eveything I can if it warrants mitering. Im not much of a fan of the ugly framing look. case and point is the outboard engine stand I just built.
Its not mitered and there are places where a wrench or nuts 'n' bolts could fall into and be unretrievable until the engine is off the stand. I will seal these up shortly but, it would have been nice to have mitered it all. I was in a hurry to make this thing so... Oh well cant have everything.

Cutting 45's

We do most our fab in the shop and use our lowboy wet-bandsaw for all our miters and finish them with our upright sanders. If you guys are using chop saws for your miters you may want to invest in a good table or upright sander. I don't think we could do with out ours. We have adjusted the table fence for 100% accurate finishes. Works great. We to use chop saws (Dewalt, Hilti has yet to make one)) for field work and without the sanders to finish off the cuts it puts us up against it at times. A little extra weld metal and a lot of grinding!

Also, while on the topic, how do you mark your tubing to cut the miter? I generally have outside measurements, and so cut one 45 then mark outside measurement on the tube then transfer the mark to the top with a tri square. The only thing that makes this a problem is the round corner of the tubing. On 1" its not too bad, but a piece of 4X4 has 1/4" or more of a round edge to guess at. I have thought of making a purpose built gauge that surrounded two sides of the tubing, was square on the outside and 45 on the top to make it easier, but have not yet.
Any ideas?

We use a chop saw and I agree it's not great but we also use quickfab elbows where we don't want to be worried about the round edge of the tube. the elbow matches the tube and comes with a bevel so it eliminates grinding also.